Biomanufacturing framework could boost microbial production efficiency
Posted: 20 January 2026 | Catherine Eckford (European Pharmaceutical Review) | No comments yet
Research findings support the design of robust microbial processes for pharmaceutical products.
New research has illustrated a novel strategy with promise for maintaining peak levels of microbial cell productivity during biomanufacturing.
This is a promising advance considering that enhancing cell production in bioprocessing has been a long-standing obstacle for the sector, particularly when studying the fluctuating behaviour of single cells.
Mu et al. highlighted this is because it requires measuring a low-abundant metabolite along with the enzyme that produces it inside a tiny single cell while that cell grows and divides. Moreover, it is unclear what causes ‘metabolic noise’, large cell-to-cell variations in microbial metabolism.
To address this, a team at Washington University in St. Louis built microfluidic devices and engineered E. coli to produce the yellow food pigment betaxanthin to distinguish it from other cellular metabolites as they grow, divide and perform normal metabolic activities.
They assessed the betaxanthin pathway via microfluidics-assisted time-lapse microscopy. This enabled Mu et al. to measure betaxanthin fluctuations, its biosynthetic enzyme DOD and growth across generations.
betaxanthin production fluctuated rapidly from high-production to low-production over a few hours. Approximately 50 percent of this betaxanthin noise resulted from fluctuations in the enzyme responsible for producing betaxanthin”
Mu et al. developed computational models to test four different control strategies to ramp up bioproduction. It showed that enriching cells that stochastically overproduce the enzyme led to a considerable increase in betaxanthin production.
They found that production fluctuated rapidly from high to low quantities over a few hours. Approximately 50 percent of this betaxanthin noise resulted from fluctuations in the enzyme responsible for producing betaxanthin.
Fuzhong Zhang, the Francis F. Ahmann Professor in energy, environmental and chemical engineering (EECE), confirmed that the strategy produced more product overall.
The research was published in Nature Communications.
Another promising biomanufacturing development provides a novel, sustainable approach to enhancing microbial biosynthesis of fatty acids. It has potential to advance sustainable chemical manufacturing and provides a “viable alternative to plant-based fatty acid extraction”.
